Ball Aerospace/NASA Achieve Key Technology Milestone for James Webb Space Telescope
January 11 2007 - 4:06PM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A team of
engineers from Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. and NASA
have successfully met the criteria needed to demonstrate Technology
Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6) for the Wavefront Sensing and Control for
the James Webb Space Telescope, a measure used by NASA to assess
the maturity of evolving technologies. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070111/LATH081) The Ball
Aerospace-built one-meter James Webb Space Telescope Testbed,
designed to mature the telescope's critical subsystems and reduce
risk, was used to demonstrate the critical end-to-end Wavefront
Sensing and Control (WFS&C) process. A TRL-6 level rating means
a system has been tested successfully in a relevant operational
environment. This milestone proves the maturity of sophisticated
image process and control software that will be needed to bring
JWST into alignment following launch. Ball Aerospace is the
principal optical subcontractor for the JWST program, led by prime
contractor Northrop Grumman Space Technology, under a contract from
the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, MD. The
software and algorithm technology that achieved this major
milestone was developed by a team of engineers from Ball Aerospace,
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. The size of the JWST telescope requires that it be
launched in a stowed or folded configuration and unfolded following
space deployment. As a result, the primary and secondary mirrors
will be aligned on orbit, making the accuracy of JWST's WFS&C
all the more critical. Once on orbit, imagery from a science camera
aboard JWST is down-linked to Earth, where algorithms determine the
optimal positions for the 19-mirror segments (18 primary mirror
segments plus the secondary mirror). Resultant commands are then
up-linked to phase the telescope. "The same technological ingenuity
Ball Aerospace applied to correcting the Hubble Space Telescope's
primary mirror in 2002 is being applied to advancing the optics for
the JWST observatory," said David L. Taylor, president and chief
executive officer of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. The
6.6-meter JWST is designed to study infrared light from objects
that formed in the beginning of the universe. It will be the first
civilian space-based observatory to use an actively controlled,
segmented mirror architecture when launched in 2013. The primary
mirror segment assembly passed the milestone necessary to
demonstrate Technology Readiness Review (TRL) 6 in 2006. Ball
Aerospace celebrated its 50th year in business in 2006. The company
began building pointing controls for military rockets in 1956, and
later won a contract to build one of NASA's first spacecraft, the
Orbiting Solar Observatory. Over the years, the company has been
responsible for numerous technological and scientific 'firsts' and
now acts as a technology innovator for important national missions.
Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) is a supplier of high-quality metal and
plastic packaging products and owns Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. Ball reported 2005 sales of $5.8 billion and
employs 15,600 people. Forward-Looking Statements This release
contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and
financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates,"
"estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied. The company undertakes
no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are summarized in filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99.2
in our Form 10-K, which are available at our Web site and at
http://www.sec.gov/. Factors that might affect our packaging
segments include fluctuation in consumer and customer demand and
preferences; availability and cost of raw materials, including
recent significant increases in resin, steel, aluminum and energy
costs, and the ability to pass such increases on to customers;
competitive packaging availability, pricing and substitution;
changes in climate and weather; fruit, vegetable and fishing
yields; industry productive capacity and competitive activity;
failure to achieve anticipated productivity improvements or
production cost reductions, including those associated with our
beverage can end project; the German mandatory deposit or other
restrictive packaging laws; changes in major customer or supplier
contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; changes in
foreign exchange rates, tax rates and activities of foreign
subsidiaries; the effect of LIFO accounting; and any changes to
such accounting. Factors that might affect our aerospace segment
include: funding, authorization, availability and returns of
government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and
technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts. Factors that
might affect the company as a whole include those listed plus:
accounting changes; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions, joint
ventures or divestitures; integration of recently acquired
businesses; regulatory action or laws including tax, environmental
and workplace safety; governmental investigations; technological
developments and innovations; goodwill impairment; antitrust,
patent and other litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of
return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined
benefit retirement plans; pension changes; reduced cash flow;
interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited results
due to statutory audits or other effects.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070111/LATH081
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. CONTACT: Roz Brown of Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., +1-303-939-6146, or +1-303-533-6059,
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